Delicates - Brenna Thummler - ★★.½

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Brenna Thummler

SERIES: Sheets, #2

GENRE: Middle-grade Graphic Novel.

RATING: 2.5 stars

In a Nutshell: The second book of the Sheets series. Covers some powerful themes this time as well, but doesn’t handle them with equal impact. Darker and slower than the first book. Not a standalone.

Story Synopsis:

Now that Marjorie’s laundry is running well, her life has changed. Wendell the young ghost is still among her best friends, but as Marjorie is finally accepted by the popular kids, she feels torn between wanting to be “cool” and following her heart. When Marjorie begins to ignore him, Wendell feels even more invisible.

Eliza Duncan, Coach Duncan’s daughter, also feels invisible. Though an avid photographer, her obsession to photograph a ghost and her “weird” behaviour makes her the target of jokes and bullying.

The story focusses on Marjorie, Eliza and Wendell, and their struggles of fitting in.

This graphic novel continues from the events of 'Sheets', the first book in the series, and hence shouldn’t be read as a standalone.

In many ways, this sequel is similar to the first book. Both begin slowly. Both cover important themes. While the first was more about mental health and grief, this one focusses on common teenage problems such as the desire to be accepted by the popular kids, bullying, and the dilemma of doing what your popular “friends” say though your heart isn’t in it. The artwork left me feeling the same as well – I liked it but it didn’t blow me away.

In a couple of ways, this sequel improves upon the first book. There is no comedic villain this time, but a rather realistic enemy in the form of peers who stifle your voice and shame you for your choices. The artwork also reflects this change, becoming darker and sharper.

In some ways, the sequel delivers less than the first book. Wendell and his fellow ghosts, along with the ghost world, were the highlight of the first book. Their presence lent a uniqueness to the plot. This time around, the story feels relatively ordinary. The ghostly presence was not as much as I would have liked. Also, the characters were more relatable earlier and we actually felt sorry for them. Not this time.

Marjorie’s character arc, for instance, is challenging in this plot. From being a girl who felt like a ghost in the first book to treating a victim of bullying as a ghost in this edition, her life has turned a full circle. It was disappointing to see her behave this way because she was such an impressive character in the earlier book. To a certain extent, her portrayal is realistic. When she openly lies and breaks promises to keep her reputation intact, and tries to suppress her own wishes to cater to the popular gang’s commands, you actually feel the struggle the teenager is going through. But I think most readers would be rooting for Wendell and Eliza instead of Marjorie in this story. Marjorie didn’t behave well for most of the story, but got away with no comeuppance.

Another issue was with Coach Duncan’s behaviour. He came across as a caring and perceptive teacher in the first book who did his best to help Marjorie without making her feel pressured. Even his wife was understanding towards Marjorie’s emotional needs. But this time, both of them are oblivious about their daughter Eliza’s problems at school. They dole out impractical advice without giving her a patient ear or attempting to understand her struggles. It was frustrating to see a great teacher-character being reduced to this unidimensional, clueless parent.

The slowness and somewhat repetitive themes in the initial half are compensated to a certain extent by the ending. The final 25% or so delivers satisfaction on most counts. The only main issue with this section was one character’s intent to suicide. Must suicide be a part of MG works?

Once again, I read this with my little one, and neither of us liked it as much as the first book. While I appreciated some of the themes and teen Marjorie’s genuine struggles to be accepted, my daughter, who has yet to reach that difficult age, found the story “boring” and “not at all funny.” I guess the first book’s balance between humour and seriousness led us both to believe that this would be the same.

2 stars from the kiddo. (Which is a record low - she has never rated any book below 4!) 

3 stars from me. 

Averaging the two, and rounding down because Boss Baby didn’t like it enough.

Onto the final book. Hope it goes better! (It had better be better - It’s an ARC!)